


Cup of Coffee

by TheAzureFox



Series: Project SSS [3]
Category: Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Trauma, adopted family, found family technically, wow this aged badly fjhfghjfg
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-29
Updated: 2019-10-29
Packaged: 2021-01-06 07:50:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21223112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheAzureFox/pseuds/TheAzureFox
Summary: Bede and Rose have a talk about things that are better left unsaid.





	Cup of Coffee

**Author's Note:**

> <strike>i keep spamming this fandom w/ my fanfics so sorry to y'all who keep see me update the archive every other day. Once the game comes out I promise you'll be seeing me fade into obscurity ghjfgjh</strike>
> 
> I also know I should stop writing for this series bc Im distracting myself from studies but if I don't write I feel like I'll spontaneously combust from boredom and too much excitement for SwSh SO-

There’s something auspicious about being awake at 2 AM in the morning. It’s the time of day where no one else but you is awake, where everyone is tucked into their beds, slumbering and thinking of jumping Wooloo. The entirety of a city, a place once rapturous at midnight, heaves with the declaration of unconsciousness, flickering lamplights and the hoots of nocturnal Pokémon the only signs of movement in a world otherwise still.

Even so, Bede lounges on a sofa at 2 AM in the morning, kicking his legs up and down into the air. It is not like him to be awake so early nor is it like him to be so mindlessly in thought, eyes staring up at an empty ceiling and yet his brain so devoid of thoughts. He’s not tired, per say, but he’s not entirely awake, either. At this early in the morning, he’s merely a thing: an entity within a vacuum who is as awake as he is asleep.

There is no reason for his lack of sleep: no explanation for the way he counts the patterns on the sponged ceiling or how he sighs ever so often. It is just the way he is at 2 AM, a boy who exists in this frame of time, in this sliver of emptiness in which the world is drowsing and he’s the only one to witness it.

However, when the light of his room flicks on, that feeling dissipates with the replacement of alarm. Bede rockets up, holding a hand over his eyes to shield from the glaring dazzle of the chandelier up above, and makes note of a figure in a nearby doorway.

“Couldn’t sleep?” A deep voice asks him.

He squints, screwing up his face as he responds: “Something like that.”

A man dressed in the attire of a child (seriously, who wears Pokeball pajamas anymore?) comes to greet him. He beckons to the sofa as a gesture of inquiry and Bede nods, scooting away to let Rose sit down beside him.

“I couldn’t sleep either,” Rose says, smiling a kind smile.

Bede has almost never seen the man without that smile.

_ Almost_.

Because he can still remember the man’s face twisted in fury. He can still remember the way Rose had forgone his friendly cheer for a howl of anger, how he’d called his Pokémon out before him and had ripped into his enemies like a predator out for blood.

But, that was a long time ago. Back in the days when Bede was still traveling around Galar, back when everything wasn’t so simple. That journey had taught Bede a lot about the world, had taught him a lot more than he thought he knew. Friendship, camaraderie, strength, humility…all these were things he’d gained in his time as a traveling trainer.

But his journey had also taught him about loss and cruelty, about the evils of the world – both humanistic and all-too-natural – and of things he thought he possessed but didn’t.

He’d come out of the whole experience changed. As had everyone else, actually. They’d all grown into the roles they’d fitted for themselves. Gloria became the Champion of Galar, tending to her people’s needs while also maintaining her love for the region. Marnie gave into the legacy she’d long neglected, working as a wandering historian whose recitations of the past were well adored. Hop, having long since surpassed his brother, became Sonia’s assistant in researching Dynamax raids, recklessly riding himself into battle time and time again.

Bede sighs, and it’s the kind of sigh that suggests nothing but fond envy. His friends were off living their own lives, attending to the needs of Galar with their passions and interests. Meanwhile, Bede was still split with where he wanted to go. His duty as the flag-bearer for a forgotten legend was done with. Yet, as much as Bede was drawn to helping Rose run his business, there were still times where he had to flee to the outdoors, to stretch his legs and hike through the Wild Area in search of something still yet missing.

And Rose – the man who Bede owed his life and loyalty to – was nothing but supportive. One look at the man can tell anyone that: Rose is as kind to Bede as a father is to their son, always looking out for the boy and promising to do what he can to help Bede’s dreams a reality.

And…it’s nice. Bede admires that about the man. He admires the way Rose never judges, admires the way the man always listens and never stops to dissuade unless absolutely necessary. Even though they are not related by blood, Bede still clings to the man. There is no shame in saying he sees Rose as a father figure, that he looks to him for advice and that he revels in the praise Rose will give him.

He is childish in that respect but there’s no denying it. He looks up to Rose. Wants to be like him, even. And, while they’ve undoubtedly had their rough times together (Bede can particularly remember moments of vivid frustration, anger, and resentment towards the man), they were still as close to a family as family could ever get.

“Thinking of the company?” Bede asks, responding to his comment on an inability to slumber.

Rose flashes another smile. “If only.” He leans back against the couch. “No, I was thinking about the Battle of Galar.” His smile drops from his face completely, shadowed by doubts and fears. “It still troubles me.”

“After all this time?”

“Yes. After all this time.” Rose hums for a long, long moment. Then, he pauses in his noise-making, tilting his head to give Bede a serious look marred by that ceaseless amiable twinkle in his eyes. “I almost thought I lost you.”

“But you didn’t,” Bede swallows. This isnt an easy conversation. Rose seems to know it too, heaving a long sigh tinged with something Bede can't quite figure out.

“No, but I could’ve.” The man hangs his head, fingers running through his hair and digging at his scalp. There’s a haunted look in his eyes, one that sends Bede’s stomach flipping with sickness. “You were almost killed. Right there. In front of me. And I couldn’t do anything, couldn’t stop the madness that was happening before me. It was the weakest I’ve ever felt.”

Bede cups his hands, settling them in his lap. He tries not to think too much of Rose’s words, tries not to relive the flickering moments threatening to burst to life in his head.

Eternatus, looming. Jaws, opening. Teeth the color of bloodstained pearls appearing, eyes of nothing but the void watching. He can remember coldness all around him, can remember the grip of a shadow all around him. Can remember Rose begging, pleading, _ screaming- _

And then he blinks, willing nightmarish visions away. 

“But I lived.” He says, quietly, letting his voice dance like a ghost on the empty air of the room before him. “I survived. That’s all that counts, in the end.”

Rose laughs but it’s not the kind of laugh that's ripe in amusement. It’s bitter, cold and fraught with resentful anger. Bede peers at his former sponsor, his parental figure, his _ father_, and tries to make sense of the way Rose looks like he wants to tear his hair out.

Instead, he finds himself slammed against the man’s chest, the scent of cinnamon cologne lingering on gray silk. It’s a comforting smell, one that Bede relaxes into as Rose’s shoulders shake. The man convulses with sobs, wretching with such terrible noise that Bede returns the hug he’s been pressed into ever so gently. 

There is nothing to be said in moments like these. Instead, there is only understanding. Bede can feel emotions rising up in him, his nonchalance only going so far as he sniffles like a child. Those vivid memories that he’s tried so hard to restrain break free, barreling down upon him as Rose cries and cries. 

Eventually, Bede cries too. He can’t help getting sentimental, especially in the presence of one so close to him. He presses closer, wanting to forgo the memories of an experience so far away and yet still so close. 

They linger there for eons, tearing up over memories of once had a chance to be lost. But Bede doesn’t mind. Even if his face is streaked with tears and snot, even as Rose offers him a wobbling grin when he pulls away, asking if Bede wants some hot chocolate, there is something nice about the way their living room becomes decorated in tearful sadness and nostalgia.

Bede takes the cup of hot chocolate offered to him, using the end of his sleeves to wipe at the unsightly mess that is his face, before he looks into his cup, contemplating.

“I’m glad I’m still here,” he says. “I’m glad I lived.”

Rose raises his own cup, clinking it in a playful manner against his. The man has sobered immensely but Bede can still see the cracks in his otherwise perfect face. His eyes are puffy, red, and there is no denying the way his eyes glisten like he wants to cry again.

“I’m glad for that too, Bede,” the man says

They clink their glasses on more time together, just for fun, and down the dark liquid ripe in sugar and milk.

**Author's Note:**

> I like to imagine Bede and Rose as having a father-son relationship. It's clear Bede worships Rose and is deeply connected with him and I think, personally, it makes for a fun emotional ride if Bede and Rose know each other beyond being just "a protege and his sponsor". 
> 
> Ofc, it can also go even more fun places once you realize that Bede's attachment to Rose means he basically hates Leon (who, as far as I can tell, has broken ties with Rose for some reason despite being "close" to him as you don't see Rose's logo anywhere on his cape), which means he hates the protagonist and Hop (because they're sponsored by Leon) and Sonia and Magnolia too (because they're close to Leon). 
> 
> And it's almost confirmed that Bede Really Hates Leon because according to a translation for one of his scenes in the Japanese trailer he looks down upon the player because they were chosen by the Champion who is "weaker" than the Chairman (which, as far as that logic goes im not sure of that because uhhhhh Leon's the strongest trainer in Galar so ??? what do you know that we don't Bede???)
> 
> Idk it's just really fun to think about how Bede's attachment to Rose and hostility towards Leon makes him wield complex dynamics with the other characters. It doesn't explain the possible relationship he'd have to Marnie (or Oleana for that matter but apparently she's partially his sponsor so??? not sure why her exact relationship to him is kind of unclear but then again not much about Bede is known anyways truly lmao)
> 
> And this is getting pretty long but yeah just know I have lots of thoughts about this game and all the character dynamics and I hope to god we get really unique and well thought out good character dynamics between Bede and Rose


End file.
